The food bank’s fastest growing program, The Weekend Backpack Program™, provides severely at-risk children with a backpack filled with nutritious child-friendly foods for them to take home on the weekends, when they might otherwise go hungry.

The program is designed to allow students to get the assistance without drawing any attention to themselves by using backpacks, which look like any other student’s backpack.

During the 2006-2007 school year, nearly 7,800 backpacks were filled.

The Weekend Backpack Program™
a program of Ozarks Food Harvest,
is supported by the following fundraising partners:

Female Leaders in Philanthropy
A United Way of the Ozarks initiative

Care to Learn
A Foundation for Springfield Public Schools Fund

Community Development Block Grant
Through the City of Springfield

Community Foundation of the Ozarks

Note: Ozarks Food Harvest prefers monetary donations for The Weekend Backpack Program™ because The Food Bank can purchase the specific items at a bulk, discounted rate. In the past, OFH asked for easy-open, single serving items, but now purchases those items and requests for donations of toothbrushes and small toothpastes.